Field of the Disclosure
The present disclosure generally relates to methods and apparatus for making up and breaking out tubular connections. More particularly, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a tong assembly for use in making up or breaking out tubular connections within a tubular string of an oil or gas well.
Description of the Related Art
Construction of oil or gas wells usually requires making long tubular strings that make up casing, risers, drill pipe or other tubing. Due to the length of these strings, sections or stands of tubulars are progressively added to or removed from the tubular strings as they are lowered or raised from a drilling platform. A tong assembly is commonly used to make up or break out joints in the tubular strings.
It is desirable that the tong assembly applies a predetermined torque to the joint to prevent the joint from being too loose or too tight. Torque applied to the tubular has been monitored by measuring a force of compression or tension exerted on a component of a tong assembly and converting the measured force to torque. However, movements of the tong assembly during make up may cause misalignment of the force measuring sensors, thus, compromising accuracy of the force measurement. Additionally, accuracy of the torque measurement converted from a force measurement is also susceptible to size variations of the tubulars.
Therefore, there is a need for a tong assembly with improved torque measurement.